No Wings to Fly
by DawnStars1247
Summary: Blackwing is one of the few warriors turned medicine cat. For these cats, it seems like it takes a tragedy to change them. This is the story of Blackwing's tragedy and how she changed from brash and arrogant warrior to calm and soft spoken medicine cat. Linked to Dawnstar's Legacy.


**It's been too long since I've written anything. For my regular readers, you know how my condition is. I won't go into that. But a lot of has happened in my life and that's why I've had no will to write. So instead of an update to Dawnstar's Legacy like it's time for, I'm making this short little story related to it. I haven't pushed Blackwing's past enough and it needs something for it. **

**Speaking of Dawnstar's Legacy, there's a lot going for it, but a lot that's somewhat controversial and mature in it idea wise. I also realized that I put a mild, sexual reference in the last update that most of you probably didn't notice was there. (Now that I told you, DO NOT go looking for it.) **

**But what I really want to address is the age of my readers. This goes for people reading both Dawnstar's Legacy and History Rewritten. If you're 10 years of age or younger, I don't know if I feel comfortable with you reading what I make. Everyone 11 years of age and older can keep going. (Preferably 12 or older, but I guess I can't stop people from reading it.) **

**Well, please enjoy the story. Questions? Feel free to ask. Thanks once again to all my loyal readers and reviewers and anyone else who follow'd, fav'd and loved what I wrote. **

**This is not a oneshot! This will be multiple parts, but not a full length story. **

**OC submissions are still possible, but by PM only and limit 3 per person. **

**1 separating line goes here 1 **

Blackpaw's body shook off a tremor of excitement. All around her, cats rushed into battle, exploding onto enemies. Blood splashed a bit on her black pelt, but she didn't mind. The black apprentice almost _enjoyed _the harshness of battle and its lawless tendencies. Just the last moon, she had injured a ShadowClan warrior enough to make him retire to the elder's den for the rest of his life. Sure, Blackpaw had never purposely meant to _harm _the warrior, but she just couldn't help herself from clawing endlessly at his skin. She loved the _euphoria _the blood and battle gave her when she leapt onto another cat and ripped the fur from his pelt. She smiled at the crack of bones against bones from a hard hit to the limbs. To the black she cat, being a fighting warrior was like an addiction, but it was also a necessary part of her life as a clan cat. And Blackpaw loved it.

Suddenly, a heavy, white body slammed into her side, knocking Blackpaw cleanly off her paws! Growling in rage at her attacker, the black apprentice gave a swipe at the thick white fur. The cat gave a screech and turned around to glare at Blackwing's light azure gaze. A familiar pair of green eyes burned into Blackpaw's. Still feeling the mania of her rage, Blackpaw hissed at her clanmate.

"Get out of my way, Icepaw!" Blackpaw shoved the white apprentice, but Icepaw shoved back.

"What in the name of StarClan is wrong with you?" Icepaw hissed.

"Go help my brother! Two WindClan warriors are attacking him!"

Blackpaw obeyed after she noticed Icepaw running into the small copse of trees that surrounded her clan's camp. Icepaw was escaping. Blackpaw almost spat in disgust.

_Coward._

Still enjoying the mania the battle brought her, Blackpaw leapt over to where a brown tabby tom was fighting off two tall warriors. The poor tabby had as many scratches as he had stripes. Blackpaw couldn't help but feel pity for him as she slammed her front paws into the flank of one of the enemy warriors. She grinned when the warrior's yowl of surprise graced her ears. Blackpaw didn't give the warrior time to retaliate; she sliced at her opponent's forelegs and muzzle. Hissing in pain, the enemy she cat tried to knock her into the tabby tom that fought beside her, but failed when Blackpaw jumped neatly over the outstretched paw. Taking the opportunity, Blackpaw bit her teeth down into the she cat's paw pad. Despite the painful screech the enemy warrior gave, the cat pulled her paw back towards her with Blackpaw still attached! The black apprentice nearly yelped in alarm as a heavy foreleg slammed down onto her back, forcing the air right out of her lungs. Blackpaw gagged, unable to fight back. The enemy warrior rained a few slashes onto her back and the apprentice could feel the hot blood streaming down her back. The black she cat thrashed her body, the strange euphoria from the fight setting in. With all her strength, Blackpaw pushed up on the enemy cat and sent her sprawling onto her back! The apprentice didn't hesitate, however. She immediately pounced on the WindClan cat and clawed her belly. She felt her claws keep clawing and clawing, the yowls and screeches of the warrior grew fainter with each swipe. But suddenly she wasn't clawing at the soft fur of a cat anymore. Blackpaw was now pulled off the warrior and clawing grass! Unable to erase the snarl on her face and in her throat, Blackpaw turned from side to side in desperate search of the cat that pulled her off the warrior who had now escaped her grasp.

About to race away to fight another cat, Blackpaw lunged forward. But she was stopped when the brown tabby face of Timberpaw blocked her path. His normally warm, emerald eyes turned cold briefly, then, he addressed his friend.

"Go with your brother. The battle's almost over." Timberpaw said. But he didn't leave immediately almost as if he expected Blackpaw to say something.

"It can't be over already!" Blackpaw mewed disappointed. Timberpaw shook his head and eyed the wounds on Blackpaw's back.

"You have to go home anyway. Leafstep has to see those scratches on your back."

"No he doesn't," Blackpaw simply stated, "I barely feel them."

"Then don't do it for me. Do it for Embersoul. He's worried about you too." Timberpaw mewed quietly. Blackpaw could _see _him growing hot with embarrassment. She twitched.

"He's my best friend, not my mate. He doesn't need to worry about me. Why does everyone assume we're going to get together? He clearly loves Stoneheart." Blackpaw hissed in annoyance. Timberpaw just stared at her in silence for a few heartbeats.

"I want to dedicate my life to being a warrior, Timberpaw. Having a mate would just slow me down, not to mention kits." Blackpaw's voice morphed into a growl at the end.

**1 separating line goes here 1 **

Timberpaw stood up and walked beside her back to camp, despite the objections his friend gave. After a few tugs of the scruff, Blackpaw followed him back like a kit follows its mother. Timberpaw pushed some reeds aside and let Blackpaw walk through. She grudgingly thanked him for the support. The brown tabby couldn't help but snicker at his friend's pride. Quietly, Timberpaw lead his friend passed the cheerful warriors that had returned from the battle. None of them seemed to notice the pair of cats sneaking to the medicine cat's den. Timberpaw padded especially quiet around a resting tom with grey and ginger fur. He didn't want the warrior to wake up and find both his apprentice and best friend injured. He would cause a scene. Much to his surprise, Blackpaw stepped around him in the same, silent manner.

When the pair ducked under the tree root roof of the medicine den, they were greeted by the strong scent of marigolds and colt's foot with some wild garlic and poppy seeds thrown into the scent mixture. Timberpaw eagerly breathed in the rich scents, but Blackpaw wrinkled her nose and sniffled at the scents. Timberpaw turned to Blackpaw and blinked at her.

"Stop, you're being rude." Timberpaw whispered. But Blackpaw didn't stop sniffling and coughing at the scents of the medicine around her.

"Stop that before Leafstep gets-…" Timberpaw started again but then stopped when a light brown and white cat with herbs clinging to his fur stepped into the den.

"When I what?" the cat asked, whiskers twitching. Timberpaw mewed quietly in surprise then apologized. But Blackpaw kept on her indignant face of disgust at the den and the herbs. Leafstep didn't seem bothered by her behavior though, much to Timberpaw's relief. Leafstep sniffed at Timberpaw's scratches and nodded.

"Timberpaw, all you need to do is clean your cuts. Come back to me if you start to feel them start to throb and get warm. Blackpaw, stay here a moment." Blackpaw scowled as Timberpaw ducked under the low roof and left her with the stinky medicine cat. Leafstep once again ignored the gesture and smiled at the black she cat. Then, he picked some herbs off his pelt and chewed them. When Leafstep was satisfied with the consistency of the herb paste, he spat it on his paw and rubbed it into Blackpaw's cuts.

Blackpaw turned her head away from the medicine cat and snarled. She hated the way the herb pastes always seemed to _freeze _her wounds. She hated the way the cuts would heal and sport no scar when the medicine worked. She hated the putrid smell that came with all the herbs used on her wounds and how the scent would cling to her fur for days. Unable to hold in the disgust and rage, Blackpaw let out a hiss. But Leafstep just smiled more at her.

"Try not to lick off the medicine, Blackpaw." He meowed cheerfully. Blackpaw just frowned.

"Cheer up," Leafstep said, still smiling, "RiverClan has won yet another battle and no cats died or were sent to the elder's den."

Blackpaw visibly flinched at the statement. Leafstep kept on his happy face.

"I was referring to _our _clan."

Blackpaw didn't respond to him immediately.

"Can I go to my nest now?" Blackpaw whispered. Leafstep nodded. And with that, she left the medicine den.

**1 separating line goes here 1 **

Blackpaw let the bright light of the day warm her pelt for a moment before crossing the clearing to the apprentices' den. She breathed the clear air into her lungs deeply in, then out. She didn't want to keep smelling and breathing the herb scent from Leafstep's den. Yet oddly, Embersoul liked the scent when it clung to her fur. He always told her to visit Leafstep more often after battles.

Then, an idea formed in her mind. Quietly, Blackpaw padded up to the sleeping form her best friend just outside the warriors' den. The she cat crouched down low, nearly touching Embersoul's grey and ginger pelt. Blackpaw stretched her paws around to her back and scooped off the sticky medicine that was pasted onto he cuts on her back. After collecting a majority of the stuff off her wounds, she wiped her herbed paws onto Embersoul's fur! Carefully, she put some on the spots where he had sport some cuts from the battle.

_If you like the scent so much, you can have it. _

Blackpaw stood up softly. When she was satisfied that Embersoul wouldn't wake up with her right next to him, she stepped over his sleeping form and headed to the apprentices' den. Carelessly, Blackpaw flopped into her nest. It was cold from being empty for so long, but she didn't complain. The black apprentice was surprisingly tired from the day's events. Even though she only fought off one warrior in the battle.

Suddenly a black furred mass dropped down next to her. Blackpaw purred when she recognized the familiar, light amber gaze of her brother, Darkpaw. The two were close; most nights they shared a nest. But sometimes they traded places with Timberpaw and Icepaw.

"How was the battle?" Darkpaw asked. His eyes glittered with some sort of excitement.

"Amazing!" Blackpaw mewed. Darkpaw's face lit up.

"Tell me all about it!"

Blackpaw smiled and told him about her fight with a WindClan she cat and how she had gotten herself out of the cat's paw hold on her own. Darkpaw looked a little impressed.

"Good job. That's a hard move for apprentices your age. I couldn't even lift myself up like that when I was your age."

"_Everything _is easy for you, Darkpaw." Blackpaw said, playfully cuffing his ear. Darkpaw cuffed her back. But then he stared at his sister seriously.

"Blackpaw, tomorrow is my warrior ceremony." Darkpaw said flatly. Blackpaw stayed silent.

"Tonight will be the last night I'll sleep next to you in the apprentices' den."

"Why?" Blackpaw managed to squeak.

"But I'll miss you." She mewed. Darkpaw licked her forehead.

"It's not like I'm leaving the clan for good. I'll just be in a different den. I can still share a nest with you some nights. I'll always be your brother. Plus, you aren't too far behind me. I bet you'll be joining me in the next moon." Darkpaw meowed, soothing his sister. Blackpaw looked up at her brother.

"Will you tell me the story of how we came to RiverClan again?" Blackpaw said like a kit asking an elder for a story. Darkpaw smiled at her. He liked telling Blackpaw the story over and over again. It gave him as much joy as it did Blackpaw.

"Sure. It all started when I was almost five and quarter moons old and you were almost two. Our mother and father sent us out in the forest one day with one request before we would never see them again. 'Find a large group of cats,' they said, 'the cats will take you in and make you great, greater than us!' And so we set off. We were lost for a long time in the forest. I had never seen so many trees in one place before." Darkpaw stopped to catch his breath.

"But eventually, we found the river and decided to follow it. You almost fell in, I had to catch you and save you. But after following the river, we found the group of cats like our parents said. We found RiverClan, our home. They welcomed us and raised us as their own. I remember the queens doting on you for four moons before your apprentice ceremony."

Blackpaw laughed a little.

"They always wanted to groom me."

"And then, we both were apprentices and trained under the warriors."

"That's the end though." Blackpaw said. Darkpaw shook his head.

"No, it isn't. We're still living the story. It only ends when we go to StarClan." Darkpaw meowed, blinking.

"You believe that?" Blackpaw asked, amused. Darkpaw nodded.

"Life has always seemed like a story to me. Each day a new chapter." Darkpaw said. Blackpaw understood.

"Blackpaw, just because I leave your den doesn't mean our story ends."


End file.
